An Overview of Employer Branding With Special Reference to Indian Organizations

Talent acquisition is the most crucial activity an organization goes through. The reasons for its criticality are not just confined to the cost and time involved in recruiting talent but also matching the right incumbents at the right place and at the right time along with the organizational fit are the most essential factors to deal with. Nowadays, organizations are working in VUCA (volatile, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) environment that seeks a lot in terms of employee performance. Employer branding was initiated by Ambler and Barrow (1990) with an aim to attract and retain the best talent through various activities, and the contemporary research has proven that if branding of the organization is done in an effective manner then it retains the best talent; further, it enhances job engagement and motivation. The present chapter elaborates the concept of employer branding, benefits, and importance of employer branding. Recent surveys and trends of employer branding in Indian organizations have also been discussed.

Thinking Globally, Leading Locally

Global leadership effectiveness has become one of the major issues in human resource management. It is very important for cross-cultural managers to take into consideration the paradigm shift in the business world, keeping in mind the opportunity for organizational growth and individual development. The key issue that the present corporate leaders have to face is to formulate action plans to tackle diversity in the workforce covering the broader spectrum of dimensions, vis-à-vis, ethnicity, age, gender, educational background, economic status, marital status, and skill sets. Since the corporate environment is greatly accelerated by the globalization and advancements in technology, global leaders need to attain a set of competencies that would facilitate them to realize their vision and thus enhance their performance efficiency and competitiveness. The chapter deals with the specific paradigms of the leadership styles and the management of workforce diversity so as to establish the linkages between leadership style and diversity management.

Relativity Applies to Physics, Not Ethics

Ethical relativism is the most prevalent philosophical sub discipline. Ethical relativism represents that there is no moral right or wrong, asserting that morals evolve and change with social norms over a period of time. As the businesses have been growing transnational, this has become a burden rather than advantage, leading to confusion about whether to follow the host country or the home country cultural standards. Adopting the host country cultural values might end up with contradictory and inconsistent practices in the same organization whereas strictly believing in the home country culture might lead to rigidity and chaos in respective markets, forfeiting the opportunities. Thus, overcoming the mindset of ethical relativism has become a big burden on multinational businesses. Eventually, there lies a great hope for ethical universalism rather than relativism in the context of cross-cultural and diverse businesses.

Developing Strategic Leadership in the Indian Context

With intense competition, it has become quite challenging for organizations to continuously create and innovate. Since leadership has been identified as an effective key factor in attaining sustainable competitive edge, there remains a lack of research to assess the role of leadership most likely to cause creativity and innovation. This chapter tries to conceptualize the impact of developing strategic leadership in Indian organizations. This has a significant impact on organizational creativity and innovation. Firms facing recession need to develop their leaders as strategic leaders who can generate a positive wave in the organization, provide direction to employees, generate genuine interest among employees to learn and grow. Strategic leaders develop commitment among employees by providing a vision and goal to them. They think strategically and frame policies as per employees' needs and expectations. This study demonstrates the impact of strategic leadership style to generate creativity and innovation among their subordinates.

Role of Team Climate in Improving Team Functioning and Team Empowerment

The changing work force dynamics have great impact on organisation effectiveness as it requires proper and deep understanding of organisation structure and working patterns. The organisations are changing their workgroups into teams and that requires deep understanding of how teams are functioning and how they work within the organisation. The social climate plays a significant role in the improvement of the team climate, which provides shared belief amongst the team member of organisations and leads to the development of positive team climate. This chapter refers to the theory of team climate and provides a different perspective that reflects the difference between team climate and organisational climate. The changing work force diversity and pattern of organisation structure really needs understanding of team climate and how it can contribute to developing conducive team climate for learning within the organisation. Further, the chapter emphasises role of team climate in terms of team functioning and team empowerment.

Cross-Cultural Conflicts

The authors discuss in detail the meaning of conflict, cross-cultural conflict, the reasons for the conflicts, and its impact on overall organization performance and productivity. The authors also highlight and discuss the various strategies that can be worked out to reduce and resolve conflicts amicably and how to use conflicts for the betterment of the organization. The authors also focus upon the various issues and concerns that need to be taken care of while handling the conflicts and resolving them effectively. The authors have also drawn attention towards the future research perspectives, which will help organisations and management to address the cross-cultural conflicts and utilizing them for the betterment of the organisation in a constructive manner.

Gender Diversity in Board of Directors

Gender diversity in corporate governance is a popular topic in management environment studies. One of the most significant components of this concept is women in boards. Due to the inequalities of women in boards there are a number of academic studies on women in top management. This chapter explains gender diversification problem in boards. Furthermore, reasons for workforce diversity in decision-making levels are determined. The role and critical mass of women members in different cultures are discussed. Finally, it introduces the representation levels of women in the boards of BIST 100 companies in Turkey. Data is obtained from annual reports, websites, and related documents of companies.

Human Resource Management in Indian Microfinance Institutions

Over the years, microfinance has assumed a great importance all over the world. The reason behind the increasing importance of microfinance in poverty alleviation is considered a prime objective in all developing and underdeveloped countries. Traditionally, MFIs did not have a defined HR policy or structure, since the size of the organization was always very small. The last few years have seen an upswing in the size of the organizations and also in the margins generated by MFIs. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the human resource management issues and challenges faced in microfinance industry in India.

Exploring the Relationship Between Organizational Culture and WLB

The objective of the chapter is to investigate the relationship between organisational culture and work-life balance Questionnaires for organisational culture and work-life balance were developed and tested and the relationship between the two explored. The main findings were 1) organisational culture has a significant impact on work-life balance, and 2) more than rewards, it is support in terms of resources, roles, and empathy that have a significant impact on WLB of an individual. It is the prevailing culture that determines whether an employee does or does not take the benefit of existing family-friendly or work/life policies. While the organization may include policies related to work/life in its human resource manual, it is the culture of the organization that instills confidence in the individual to make use of the offered options. The chapter highlights the issues arising when organisational culture lacks empathy.

Relationship Between Empowerment and Organizational Commitment

This study was done to examine the relationship between empowerment and organizational commitment in the employees of IT sector. Data were collected from 70 employees of IT sector. The study used questionnaire method for the purpose of data collection. Two questionnaires, namely empowerment and organizational commitment, were used to collect the data for the study. SPSS software was used for data operation. The results of correlation showed a significant positive relationship between employees' empowerment and their commitment to organizations. Analyses also revealed a significant positive relationship between the employees' empowerment dimensions (i.e., meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact) and their organization commitment.